Meet Charlotte's Family
In 2003, when we asked our then 8 year old what he thought about adopting a baby sister, his answer was, "What! A baby in the house? I don't think so." Okay, so much for being honest.
Fast forward two years, and I sat my hubby and son down and simply stated how much I wanted to be a mother again, how much my heart ached for another child and how much love I still had to give to another child. I explained that God had rooted this in my heart and soul, and I waited for their answer. This time, our almost-ten year old said, "Mom, when God puts something in your heart, you just have to do it! Let's go get her!"
If it were only so easy.........
Our journey began on September 22, 2005, the day we were approved to adopt a baby girl from China. We didn't know how long it would take, but we "decided" that one year was a wait that would work for our family, since we wanted the kids to be about ten years apart, and our son was now ten. We also agreed that if the wait were going to be more than a year, we would not proceed. We spoke with the agency we had chosen and were told we would have our daughter home in 9-12 months. Almost immediately, the wait began to lengthen. Throughout the next 2 years, we talked about how long we would wait, and each time we thought we could stop, something tugged at my heart and I had to tell my husband, ‘Not yet, just not yet. Let's keep waiting, please.’
The months wore on, and we were all so very patient. While we tried to live a normal family life, we did put things on hold, like vacations, in order to save money and time away from work. We wanted to be able to spend some time at home with our daughter when she finally arrived. We anxiously awaited the baby referrals each month and as time passed, each month brought an increase in wait time rather than a decrease.
It was in January 2008, that we finally made the most heart-wrenching decision of our life. We agreed to stop the adoption altogether. The update that month had our wait extended to early 2009. We made the decision and told our son when he arrived home from a church retreat weekend.
Our now-twelve year old's response was, "Mom, I know God put adoption on your heart, but was it adoption from China?". His church retreat speaker had been sharing about Haiti’s children who needed families. We took a few days and really prayed about the situation and ultimately decided to stand by our decision to stop the adoption.
Apparently, God did not see this as the end for us, because ten (10) days after we made one of the most difficult decisions of our life, a very special little girl was brought to our attention. She was on a Waiting Child list with a different adoption agency. I remembered my son's comment about God putting adoption in my heart, but maybe it was in the special needs program. All of the sudden, we really felt like this was the direction we were supposed to be taking. Since she was brought to us, we really saw this as an intervention from God, and we knew she was meant to be part of our family.
We spent the first five months in 2008 paper-chasing again and compiling a completely new dossier that was sent to China. We no longer wonder why the path was so long and confusing. God knew the deep desires of our hearts and truly blessed us with this gift. We see our journey as a testimony of faith and learning how to really put our trust in the Lord. He provides everything we need in His time. We are even more certain of the Lord's hand on our family because the day we were united with our daughter was 9/22/08, the 3rd anniversary of our application to adopt her. Instead of a baby, God sent us a beautiful 2 1/2 yr old daughter, which means, our children are still only 10 years apart.